News, ideas, thoughts, game breakdowns, in-depth statistics, and a whole lot of passion about the New England Patriots from a 20+ year season ticket holder. (Note: even this blog is done in official Patriots colors!)

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Patriots defense (that's right the Patriots defense) dominated and the offense cashed in every opportunity, and the Patriots 37-16 road win re-proved they are the class of the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills lost along with the Jets, and that puts New England a full game up on the Bills and with essentially a two-game lead (with tie-breakers) over the Jets. Next week it's a Monday night tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are fighting for their playoff life in the suddenly competitive AFC West.

The first half of this one was ugly until the last 4:44, when each team "exploded" for long touchdown drives to move the score from 6-2 to 13-9 at the half. But the Pats took over in the second half. They converted three turnovers into 17 points, held the Jets to a mere 7 in the entire half, and rode their impressive defense to a convincing win.

The defensive effort was even more unexpected given who missed the game and who left with injuries. Two rookie free agents started -- Sterling Moore at safety and Jeff Tarpinian at linebacker -- guys so unknown they hadn't even recorded an introduction for the Sunday Night crew. Pat Chung missed the game, which gave them almost no depth at safety, and the Pats had so few linebackers they were forced to go with a 4-3, even with injuries on the defensive line.

However, the defense responded, especially the much maligned pass rush. The defensive line got in the grill of Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez all day long; and no surprise Andre Carter led the way -- with 4.5 sacks (matching his total for the season) and 8 quarterback hits. He was joined at the quarterback by Mark Anderson, and blitzing linebackers and safeties forced Sanchez to throw quicker than he wanted (he completed just 51.2% of his passes)

Carter and Mark Anderson employed things often forbidden by Patriots coaches -- spin moves, twists, and stunts -- to get to the QB.For years the Pats insisted on a controlled pass rush, fearing that surprise running plays would gash them. But it seems to have sunk in that "gap control" just isn't working, and a nod of acknowledgment to the coaching staff for realizing it. With Carter leading the way, the defensive line was around Sanchez all day long, moving him off his spot and forcing early throws for most of the game. Amazing how much better they played without Albert Haynesworth, who was cut this week.

Another oft-maligned group -- the linebackers -- had a pretty stellar performance, too, especially since only five of them dressed for the game. Rob Ninkovich notched the second two-interception game of his career, returning one for a game-icing touchdown. (Trivia question: name the year and opponent of his first two-INT game; answer below.) The rest of the linebackers didn't have the spectacular game Ninkovich did; but they had the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth most tackles on the night, and held up well enough against the run. They even helped pressure the quarterback, as noted above.

And the secondary... how to describe the desperation in the secondary? How about street free agent James Ihedigbo being the "seasoned veteran" at safety; or maybe Sterling Moore and Ross Ventron moving from the practice squad last Wednesday and Saturday (respectively) and playing significant time; or injuries forcing wide receiver Julian Edelman to play cornerback at the end of the game.

Under the circumstances, they held up pretty well. The Jets got just 6.1 yards per pass attempt, and at least two of the sacks and a few Sanchez scrambles were caused by good downfield coverage. Part of the credit goes to the coaches, who did a great job mixing blitzes and eight-man drops, confusing the Jets for just that extra moment the defense needed.

The offense started slowly in the first half. Quarterback Tom Brady led them on two 50+ yard drives, hitting Chad OchoFinallyShowed on each one -- but both drives stalled and the Pats got just two field goals. But after the Jets scored to take a 9-6 lead, Brady drove right down the field for an answering touchdown. The Jets field the best pass defense by far (giving up an aggregate QB rating of 59.4), but Brady torched them in the second half, and ended the game 26 of 39 for 329 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 sacks, 0 interceptions, and a 118.4 rating.

Brady's favorite receiver was tight end Rob Gronkowski... and frankly, he'd be mine, too. His 6' 7" frame, great hands, and great routes make him a devastating matchup problem. He caught 8 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns -- even all-world corner Darrelle Revis couldn't stop him. Wes Welker hae the quietest 6 catches (for 46 yards) of the year, and Chad Ochocinco finally contributed with two long receptions (for 65 yards).

The passes were distributed a lot more evenly this game, which is important going forward. With no legitimate deep threat, the Patriots can't let other teams key on one or two receivers -- i.e. Welker and Gronkowski. So it's encouraging to see Deion Branch grab 5 catches for 58 yards and an important touchdown, and Aaron Hernandez get 4 for 41 yards.

Running back Danny Woodhead led the running game with 38 yards on 7 rushes. Other than that, not much to speak of, except for a clean Tom Brady; a credit to blocking backs, tight ends, and of course, the offensive line. It wasn't pretty -- there were injuries there, too -- but the line kept the quarterback upright, no sacks given up and no passes batted at the line of scrimmage. Center Dan Connolly blew a shotgun snap (tossing the ball to a very surprised Brady); but all-in-all not bad for a game with as much crowd noise complex blitzing as this one.

Special teams had an up-and-down day; pouncing on a fumbled punt ("up") and giving up a few too many yards on kickoff returns ("down"). However, Stephen Gostkowski went 3-3 on field goals, while his counterpart missed a 24 yard attempt on the Jets first drive. Gostkowski probably empathized with Nick Folk on that play -- he missed a 27 yard kick last week.

And big ups to the Patriots coaching staff this week. They cut malcontent Haynesworth, trucked in secondary guys from nowhere and made it work, diversified the passing offense enough to put up 37 against one of the better defenses in the league, and even got Ochochino involved in the offense.

So where does that leave us? 6-3 and on top of the division -- it has a familiar ring but it is a good ring. Buffalo appears to be fading, the Jets are now two-games behind the Pats (including tie-breakers), and the Patriots have the easiest remaining schedule in the entire league. Their run for the playoffs begins next week, against a Chiefs team that might be missing its quarterback (Matt Cassel apparently had a cast on his throwing hand as he left the stadium today). In other words... for the moment, life is good.

Statistical Oddity of the Week: Believe it or not, the Jets and Patriots are giving up the exact same number of points per game this season (22.2).

Bonus Statistical Oddity: In four games against the Patriots this year, teams from New York (Jets twice, Giants, and Bills) scored an average of 6.5 points in the first half. But the Patriots are only 2-2 in those games.

Weekly Water-cooler Wisdom: "I think Bart Scott's the one with the nosebleed now!"

Keep the faith,

- Scott

PS. 6-3!

PPS. Trivia Answer:VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVRob Ninkovich had two interceptions in the Patriots 41-14 victory at Miami last year (October 4, 2010).

2 comments:

OchoShowedUp's catches weren't exactly the pinpoint routes that the rest of the team runs; but at least he's in the game. Maybe cutting Haynesworth scared him straight -- now he knows he can be cut, too.